As rumors go, the Apple “iWatch” has been stalking blogosphere headlines for a good couple of years now, but with Samsung having come through with several smartwatches already and Google having just taken the wraps off Android Wear, the Cupertino company knows that this emerging industry is in the midst of a boom. As such, there’s a genuine consensus that the iWatch will indeed arrive later this year, and although a new report out of Asia provides yet more circumstantial evidence as opposed to anything solid, it does offer insight as to the multiple models that Apple is said to be preparing.
As per an article over at the Economic Daily News, there’ll be two different configurations of the 1.8-inch iWatch model, with a higher-end, more robust edition bolstered by a scratch-resistant sapphire glass shell on the front. Given that our next-gen iPhone is set to do likewise with regards to the sapphire glass, this report is certainly plausible, but interestingly, also implies that the iPhone 6 will not, in fact, benefit from the ruggedness and increased clarity that a sapphire glass front panel would provide.
It goes on to note that Apple will, instead, utilize the material on the iWatch to test the waters, opening the door to the prospect of using it with a future model of the iPhone, indicating that the notion of sapphire glass for the next-gen handset is quite some way off the mark.
There is said to be a slightly smaller variant of the iWatch packing 1.6 inches of display real estate, but despite this apparent wealth of information on Apple’s inaugural, wrist-worn gadget, it does appear as though we’ll have to wait quite a while before seeing it in the flesh.
Only a few days back, KGI’s Ming Chi Kuo suggested that the production of the device had been pushed back to the wrong side of November, and as well as the late showing, Apple would only be able to stock around 3 million units at launch as opposed to the previously suggested figure of more than triple that.
Given that the larger, 5.5-inch iPhone is also apparently beset by delays, the list of new Apple gadgets launching imminently seems to be getting shorter with each report, and so let’s just hope that, in spite of these incidents, Apple encounters no further roadblocks from here on in.
(Source: EconomicDailyNews [Google Translate])
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